Artificial hair pieces and methods of making the same



Nov. 26, 1957 ARTIFICIAL HAIR PIECES AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME Filed July 1. 1953 VENTO ATT0RNEY United State Patent ARTIFICIAL HAIR PIECESMETHODS 'OF" MAKING THE SANIE' Joseph H. Schmitz, Glenside,.Pa..

Application Jilly 1, 1953, SerialNo. 365,381

7 Claims. (Cl. 132-95);

' This1.-invention relates to artifieial hair 'pieces and to methods of; making the same; and it; relates-more particularly,to.-hair:pieces' of the type commonly called toupees usedbwpartially baldpersons,-although itis equally applioableito full wigs and the like.

Heretofore, in: the making of artificial hair pieces, the method of securing the hair in the foundation which was commonly: used was to first pass the ventilator needle throughthe foundation material adjacent an edge provided. by ;bending over the foundation material at the location -wherethe-hair is tosbe inserted. The desired number of hairs: were then caught in the book of the needle:-and a loop of. the hairs was. pulled through thefoundation material. The ventilator needle was then manipulatedatopull allof the hairs engaged by the needle throughlthe hair loop after which: the loop was pulled tight againstrthe, foundationmaterial. This resulted in sharp bfendslinthe; individualhairs, and also caused all of the hairsswhich were-passedthrough the loop to be bunched together atthe place. where. the same emerged from the foundation material.

The principal object .ofthepresent invention is to-prov'ide atoupee or similar hair piece in such manner that a more natural appearance may be obtained,-and which. will be much more durable in use by reason of the novel manner of securing the hairs in the: foundation.

The nature;and'y characteristic;features of the present invention will be more readily understood from. the. followingdescription, taken in connection with the .accornpjan'ying drawing forming part hereof, in which:

Figure l is. an underneath plan view of a toupeeembodying"the main features ofiandmade according to the method ofthe' present invention;

Fig. 2; is an enlarged-fragmentary sectional view illustrating1the mann'erin'which the hairs arermounted in the foundation'rnaterial; 'andin' which certain of the hairs ,are secured town extending lace fabric provided at certain places asyfor'examp-legalong-the-front edge of the toupee for the purpose of1obt-aining a. moretnatural appearance aLIhat location;

Fig.3 is an enlargedfragmentary, sectional view-i1lustrating one of the steps in the manipulation of the needle in carrying out the novel method of the=present invention; Big, 41-.is a :sirnilar view illustrating another-step; and

' Fi g. 5. is -an..enla-rged-plan :view', showing thegrnannerzin which certain of the hairs are secured to the projecting lace fabric at the front of the toupee.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawing herein are illustrative merely, and that various modifications and changes may be made in the structure and method without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, the toupee, of the particular embodiment of the invention therein shown, comprises a foundation member 10 to which the hairs are attached. This foundation member 10 consists of a suitably shaped sheet of plastic material, of the color and appearance of the skin, in which there is disposed, between the two surfacesthereof apiece' 11 of-bobbinet lace, preferablymade of. nylon orsilk, which extends out infront,rbeyond the front edge of the foundation member. The extending lace is colored in conformity with the skin so that, when.

the .toupee,-is; appli ed.,to thehead of thewearer, and saidt The portion. of .thehlace ll which projects beyond the.

front edgeof the. foundation member 10. may have hairs secured thereto in the .usuahmanner, that is by loopingthe.

same to the strands ofthe lace.

The foundation member 10, which preferably comprisesa, sheet ofplastic material, is shaped to conform to..the. head of thewearer, by being shaped over a block similar.

in. shape to that of ,the head of the person for whom. the.

hair piece is to be made. In some instances a cast is made.

of the head of the personfor whom the hair piece isto be madeto. provide a special form upon which to shape the foundationsheet.

The foundation sheet ispreferably made of a material including rubber, either of the natural or artificial kind, but it. should be understood that this is not essential as the principal novel feature of the present invention resides in the manner-in which the hairs are secured to the foundation, sheet, and accordingly a foundation of any other suitable material may be-used.

In the making of a hair piece of the present invention, ateach location where-the hairs are to emerge at the outer surfacethereof, the sheet of foundation material Illisbent over ,on itself, and closely adjacent to the edge 1 2jjwhich. is thus provided, a ventilator needle 13, of the usual. type, is pushed through the double thickness .of. the foundation sheet closely adjacent to the edge formed by the fold.

"The hook portion of the needle 13 then engages one or moreof abundle of hairs 14 and pulls a loop 15' of the same through the double thickness of the foundation sheet 10; after which one set of ends of the hairs thus engaged bythe needle are firmly held while. at, the same time the other ends of the hairs are pulled through the foundation sheet 10" until said ends thus pulled through the foundation sheet 10" extend-entirely out from the outer surface thereof.

It.should, of course, be understood that a plurality of the hairs;or groups of hairs, can be successively inserted in .the above manner. along thefold ;ofthe foundation sheet 10"before the same is released and permitted to flatten itself, whereuponeach hair or the hairs of each groupwhich willthen pass through one holein the sheet and will; in most instances, extend a short distance on the inner faceof the foundation sheet, and then outwardlythrough another -hole' adjacent the first-mentioned hole, eachhair'beingof simple U-shapeat the place where it is mounted-in the foundation sheet.

After thehairs are thus inserted in the foundation sheet; the inner surface- 0f th'e'foundation sheet may have appl-iedtheretoasuitablecoating of adhesive ld which will serve to cement the bends of the hairs which extend through on the inner face of the foundation sheet.

It will be noted that when the hairs are inserted in the foundation sheet as aforesaid the usual looping arrangement of the hairs on the outer face of the foundation sheet will be eliminated and the hairs will each project outwardly in a substantially straight direction and a hair piece thus made will not only be more natural in appearance, but there will be no tendency of the hairs to break off at the loop.

It will also be noted that for each emergence of a hair or group of hairs from the foundation sheet there will be only one-half as many hairs emerging at a particular location, as compared with the hair pieces made PatentedNov. 26, 1957.

in the usual manner, and the hairs will thus be much better spaced on the foundation sheet.

I claim:

1. A hair piece comprising a flexible foundation sheet shaped to conform to the head of the wearer, hairs secured in the foundation sheet by simple U-shaped bends, portions of bends of the hairs being disposed on the inner face of the foundation sheet, and the free ends of each hair extending directly outward at closely separated points from the outer surface of the foundation sheet.

2. A hair piece comprising a flexible foundation sheet shaped to conform to the head of the wearer, hairs secured in the foundation sheet by simple U-shaped bends, portions of the'bends of the hairs being disposed on the inner face of the foundation sheet, the free ends of each hair extending directly outward at closely separated points from the outer surface of the foundation sheet, and a layer of adhesive on the inner face of the foundation sheet for securing the portions of the bends of the hairs which are disposed on said inner face of the foundation sheet.

3. A hair piece comprising a flexible foundation sheet shaped to conform to the head of the wearer, a web of lace embedded therein, said lace extending beyond the marginal edge of the foundation sheet at desired locations, hairs secured in the foundation sheet by simple U-shaped bends, portions of the bends of the hairs being disposed on the inner face of the foundation sheet, the free ends of each hair extending directly outward at closely separated points from the outer surface of the foundation sheet, and the outwardly extending lace portion having hairs secured thereto.

4. A hair piece comprising a flexible foundation sheet shaped to conform to the head of the wearer, a web of lace embedded therein, said lace extending beyond the marginal edge of the foundation sheet at desired locations, hairs secured in the foundation sheet by simple U-shaped bends, portions of the bends of the hairs being disposed on the inner face of the foundation sheet, the free ends of each hair extending directly outward at closely separated points from the outer surface of the foundation sheet, adhesive on the inner face of the foundation sheet for securing the portions of the bends of the hairs which are disposed on said inner face of the foundation sheet, and the outwardly extending lace portion having hairs secured thereto in the usual manner of passing the free ends of the hairs through loops extending through the meshes of the lace.

5. The method of making hair pieces consisting of shaping a flexible foundation sheet to conform to the head of the wearer, folding the foundation sheet and passing a ventilator needle through two thicknesses of the foundation sheet immediately adjacent the edge formed by said fold and engaging one or more hairs by said needle, and pulling one end of each of the hairs engaged by said needle through the double thickness of the foundation sheet while the other end only of each of said hairs is firmly held whereby the free ends of the hairs will extend directly outward from the outer surface of the foundation sheet at closely separated points and portions of the bends of the hairs will be disposed on the inner face of the foundation sheet.

6. The method of making hair pieces consisting of shaping a flexible foundation sheet to conform to the head of the wearer, folding the foundation sheet and passing a ventilator needle through two thicknesses of the foundation sheet immediately adjacent the edge formed by said fold and engaging one or more hairs by said needle, pulling one end only of each of the hairs engaged by said needle through the double thickness of the foundation sheet while the other end of each of said hairs is firmly held whereby the free ends of the hairs will extend directly outward from the outer surface of the foundation sheet at closely separated points and the bends of the hairs will be of simple U-shaped formation, and portions of said bends will be disposed on the inner face of the foundation sheet, and placing a layer of adhesive on the inner face of the foundation sheet to secure the portions of the bends of the hairs which are disposed on the inner face of the foundation sheet.

7. The method of making hair pieces consisting of shaping, to conform to the head of the wearer, a flexible foundation having a web of lace embedded therein and having a portion of said lace extending beyond the marginal edge of the foundation sheet at certain locations, folding the foundation sheet and passing a ventilator needle through two thicknesses of the foundation sheet immediately adjacent the edge formed by said fold and engaging one or more hairs by said needle, pulling one end only of each of the hairs engaged by said needle through the double thickness of the foundation sheet while the other end of each of said hairs is firmly held whereby the free ends of the hairs will extend directly outward from the outer surface of the foundation sheet at separated points and the bends of the hairs will be of simple U-shaped formation, and portions of said bends will be disposed on the inner face of the foundation sheet, placing a layer of adhesive on the inner face of the foundation sheet to secure the portions of the bends of the hairs which are disposed on the inner face of the foundation sheet, and attaching hairs to the extending lace portion in the usual manner by passing the free ends of the hairs through loops of the hairs extending through the meshes of the lace.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 513,579

OTHER REFERENCES Good Housekeeping, Needle Craft Encyclopedia, Hurst Publishing Company, New York, New York. 

